My face so far - post-SARPE surgery, pre second surgery

[DolphinBite]

Hi -

My before and after photos are here: http://www.happygoplucky.com/my-blog/2012/11/before-and-after-photos-of-jaw-surgery-sarpe.html

Until I put the before and after photos side-by-side I didn't realize how much my face has changed. My upper palate is much wider now - and I think my face is already becoming more symmetrical.

Would love to hear what you guys think!
Brandi

[DolphinBite]

I'm trying to fix overcrowding, and edge to edge bite (almost underbite) - and then of course the side effects like jaw pain, and receding gums.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Im starting to wonder if what i have is even a palette expander

It looks like a retainer, not the stuff i see in google or db's

[DolphinBite]

It doesn't flare the teeth, in fact, my teeth are angled down for the first time in my life! They used to flare out in order to  meet my bottom teeth.

How it works: your palate is split open during surgery by the doctor in a few key places so that it can open up, but is still stable. Then, depending on how much your palate needs to be widened, you turn a key every day for a few weeks and a gap slowly begins to form. Once your palate is widened enough, you stop turning the key and the expander stays in to keep everything as stable as possible. Once your palate has begun to fuse again and everything isn't wiggly anymore, the expander is removed and then the orthodontist can begin to bring the gap back together.

Does this make sense?!

[stupidjaws]

dolphin, when will you get surgery?

[pekay]

Ugh did everyone in here get a botch job by their ortho when they were younger?

I could have had all this s**t done when I was younger but didn't because I went to a strip mall hack  now my lower lip is going to be numb for life because some asshole felt like scamming me

[stupidjaws]

as if it'd do anything...maybe in the usa were customers and consumers have some rights...not in italy

[Lazlo]

I have always suspected this even when I was a dumb naive teen I bet the majority of the simple cases can be corrected in less than a year but in actuality it takes 2years+

orthos are a joke, I'm probably going to egg the house of my previous ortho

one good piece of revenge --decimate their reputations online --like on rate md etc. you can do it anonymously.

[neferkitti]

I find this anger satisfying. It's certainly justified.

It is all about chair time. Expander design and installation take lots of planning and installation time. Plus, experience/competence is a must. Basically, many don't have the training and/or patience for expansion cases, so they pull.

[Marisama]

It is.

[stupidjaws]

marisama you give us hope.
just like obama before he got elected

[Marisama]

Please, for the love of God, don't compare me to Obama.

[treevernal]

Please, for the love of God, don't compare me to Obama.

Haha!

[stupidjaws]

Loool.

4 MORE YEARS! FORWARD!

[CK]

funny thing about tongue space. im the opposite, i have too much space. my tongue has no place to rest because my palate is so high.